Hamburger Rice Skillet

Hamburger Rice Skillet - another weeknight favorite!

One of my favorite recipes growing up was hamburger-rice casserole.

Actually, Hot Dish. 

Because I’m from the North and we have hot dish up here.  But the rest of the world uses casserole, so I’ve slowly adapted my lexicon.

Anyhow, this was a favorite, but for some reason not one that I made for my family often.

I did, however make a version when Spud was a baby and I tried to go dairy free for a little while (it didn’t last long), but it was one of my first recipe adaptations and it was a little clunky (I needed to adapt it to make it dairy-free and remove the canned soups (which had dairy)).

Then, I slowly stopped using canned soups in recipes, so again, I just didn’t make this recipe all that often.

The one day it occurred to me, since I start by browning the beef in a skillet anyway, why can’t I make this into a stovetop recipe?

Boom.

Switching the recipe from oven to stovetop was just what this recipe needed to make it back into my cooking rotation!

Hamburger Rice Skillet

1 lb ground beef

2 large carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt & pepper

½ tsp dried parsley

¼ tsp dried thyme

¼ tsp dried basil

¼ tsp dried oregano

1 cup uncooked rice

2 cups chicken broth

¾ cup lowfat milk

Place the beef, carrots, celery, and onions in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium heat.  Cook, breaking up the beef as you go, until the beef in browned and vegetables are tender.  Drain off excess grease.

Return to heat.  Stir in the garlic and spices and cook for another minute.  Add the rice, broth, and milk and stir to combine.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking time.

Dish is ready to serve when the rice is tender and liquid is absorbed (if the liquid is absorbed, but the rice isn’t cooked, add ¼ cup more milk or broth and cook for another 5 minutes).

Serves 4-6